Mapping out the ICT integration terrain in the school context: identifying the challenges in an innovative project

Abstract

This article discusses the research findings from the start-up phase of an innovative information and communication technology (ICT) project focused on ICT integration as a complex process involving many factors such as leadership, school readiness and organisational culture. Known locally as Hermes, the project's core objective was to provide an improved and ‘trouble-free’ ICT infrastructure for schools using thin client technology and a wireless broadband network, which would be managed centrally rather than locally. It was anticipated that this solution would help remove the barriers associated with ICT integration caused by technical issues. Based on an in-depth study of innovation adoption in eight schools involving a survey (n=119 teachers) and interviews (n=60 teachers), the study portrays a picture of the ICT integration patterns prior to and during the Hermes intervention in terms of schools' ICT readiness, leadership and vision. This small scale study can help us understand first- and second-order barriers to ICT integration in schools. In particular, this study informs us about the ecology of schools and ICT-based innovation, innovation scalability and contributes to a critical study of educational technology via a context-rich account of how educational technology is actually being mediated, rather than an idealised account of how technology could be used.

Keywords:

• ICT integration
• education
• Ireland
• thin clients
• infrastructure
• teacher professional development
• innovation
• wireless
• cloud computing
• scale
• ecosystems

Notes on contributor

Dr Miriam Judge is Program Chair of the BSc in Multimedia Studies in the School of Communications at Dublin City University (DCU). In addition to lecturing on both the Masters and undergraduate programmes in Multimedia, Dr Judge regularly undertakes research in the area of ICT in Education. She was awarded a Government of Ireland Scholarship by IRCHSS (the Irish Research Council for the Humanities and Social Sciences) in 2001 to complete her PhD on ICT in education which explored the impact of innovative technology models on schooled participating in the ‘Schools IT 2000’ School Integration Project (SIP) initiative. Since then Dr Judge has been involved in researching and evaluating a number of school based technology projects including the Wired for Learning Project (2003), the Dundalk Learning Network (2004) and the Interactive Whiteboard Project (2006–2008). She is a currently a serving member of the CESI (Computer Education Society of Ireland) National Executive whose remit is to support educational technology in schools. More recently Dr Judge has become active in the area of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) and is currently involved in two EU projects in the area along with partner universities in Europe and the Middle East.

Notes

1. The SIP was a major strand of ‘Schools IT 2000’, launched in 1997 which represented the first major government investment in ICT in Irish schools. Under this initiative, SIP supported and funded school-based ICT projects aimed at developing good practice and innovation in ICT.